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Home M Mamas And The Papas Creeque Alley Guitar Tab

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"Creeque Alley"
(John Phillips / Michelle Gilliam)

[Note: acoustic 12-string is detuned 3 semitones and fingered in D]

Intro:

(12-string [4X; drums and bass enter 4th time]):

B7
/ / / / / / / /

Verse 1:

B7
John and Mitchie were gettin' kind of itchy
Just to leave the folk music behind
E7
Zal and Denny workin' for a penny
B7
Tryin' to get a fish on the line
F#7
In a coffee house Sebastian sat
E7
And after every number they'd pass the hat
B7
McGuinn and McGuire just a-gettin' higher
E7
In L.A., you know where that's at
D7 B7
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass

Verse 2:

Zally said "Denny, you know there aren't many
Who can sing a song the way that you do, let's go south"
Denny said "Zally, golly, don't you think that I wish
I could play guitar like you"
Zal, Denny and Sebastian sat (at the Night Owl)
And after every number they'd pass the hat
McGuinn and McGuire still a-gettin higher
In L.A., you know where that's at
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass

Verse 3:

When Cass was a sophomore, planned to go to Swarthmore
But she changed her mind one day
Standin' on the turnpike, thumb out to hitchhike
"Take me to New York right away"
When Denny met Cass he gave her love bumps
Called John and Zal and that was the Mugwumps
McGuinn and McGuire couldn't get no higher
But that's what they were aimin' at
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass

Verse 4:

Mugwumps, high jumps, slow slumps, big bumps
Don't you work as hard as you play
Make up, break up, everything is shake up
Guess it had to be that way
Sebastian and Zal formed the Spoonful
Michelle, John, and Denny gettin' very tuneful
McGuinn and McGuire just a-catchin' fire
In L.A., you know where that's at
And everybody's gettin' fat except Mama Cass

Instrumental break:

(flute solo over verse chords [might be edited on 45])

Verse 5:

Broke, busted, disgusted, agents can't be trusted
And Mitchie wants to go to the sea
Cass can't make it, she says we'll have to fake it
We knew she'd come eventually
Greasin' on American Express cards
Tent's low rent, but keeping out the heat's hard
Duffy's good vibrations and our imaginations
Can't go on indefinitely
And California dreamin' is becomin' a reality

Coda:

(flute solo):

E7 D7 B7
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

E7 D7 B7
/ / / / / / / / /


-- another ace 60's tab from Andrew Rogers

Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net

Source: GuitarMasta.net
http://www.guitarmasta.net/m/mamas_and_the_papas,_the/.html


Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
 
 
No Picture

Zach
Wanna Be
#1 by Zach Honeycutt at Sep 20, 1971 at 8:35 AM EST
I love this song and how it tells the story about all the stars of the folk 60's scene. I think it's cool that they all knew each other before they were ever famous.
 
No Picture

Joonas
Wanna Be
#2 by Joonas Luukkainen at Feb 10, 1980 at 10:40 AM EST
alas i am young and do not understand most of the referneces in this song and cannot explain them to you. from what i understand it's about the folk music culture in the 60s. mama cass is the fabulous mamas and the papas member who sings such songs as dream a little dream of me. she died of a heart attack in the early 70s. :(
 
No Picture

tim
Lead Player
#3 by tim sears at Oct 2, 1983 at 3:11 AM EST
If only more bands did a song like this - quote their roots - fab stuff
 
No Picture

Kyle
Average
#4 by Kyle Landers at Oct 17, 1986 at 9:44 AM EST
Actually elysiarenee, this song is the entire story of the band that sang it. The Mama's and the Papas were one of the most incredible folk rock groups of the 1960's. The band members were Mama Cass, Mama Michelle, Papa John, and Papa Denny. They sang with incredible harmony, and loved what they did. You are right about Mama Cass dying of a heart attack. Her daughter had a small role in the movie "American Graffitti". John Phillips (Papa John) died just last year. His daughter has a starring role in the Disney Channel show "So Weird".
 
No Picture

massie
Professional Badass
#5 by massie at May 29, 1990 at 8:35 AM EST
If only more bands did a song like this - quote their roots - fab stuff
 
No Picture

ed
Average
#6 by ed lubecki at Dec 8, 1991 at 6:58 PM EST
alas i am young and do not understand most of the referneces in this song and cannot explain them to you. from what i understand it's about the folk music culture in the 60s. mama cass is the fabulous mamas and the papas member who sings such songs as dream a little dream of me. she died of a heart attack in the early 70s. :(
 
No Picture

Ryan
Average
#7 by Ryan Jones at Dec 13, 1993 at 4:54 PM EST
www.creequealley.com breaks this song down line by line. It's essentially a reference to the history of the band and some of their former bands/bandmates (John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky of Lovin' Spoonful for example).
 
No Picture

Sarah McKagan
Musical Genius
#8 by Sarah McKagan (AKA - Lady Rock 'n' Roll) at Mar 19, 2002 at 10:02 PM EST
www.creequealley.com breaks this song down line by line. It's essentially a reference to the history of the band and some of their former bands/bandmates (John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky of Lovin' Spoonful for example).
 
No Picture

Fatty [eats chi
Average
#9 by Fatty [eats children] kid at Mar 24, 2004 at 5:39 AM EST
Actually elysiarenee, this song is the entire story of the band that sang it. The Mama's and the Papas were one of the most incredible folk rock groups of the 1960's. The band members were Mama Cass, Mama Michelle, Papa John, and Papa Denny. They sang with incredible harmony, and loved what they did. You are right about Mama Cass dying of a heart attack. Her daughter had a small role in the movie "American Graffitti". John Phillips (Papa John) died just last year. His daughter has a starring role in the Disney Channel show "So Weird".
 
No Picture

jimmy
Lead Player
#10 by jimmy matthews at Dec 12, 2006 at 9:23 AM EST
I love this song and how it tells the story about all the stars of the folk 60's scene. I think it's cool that they all knew each other before they were ever famous.